


Terminal Velocity

by Zai42



Series: Promptober 2019 [6]
Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Amusement Parks, Ferris Wheels, Hand Jobs, Height Kink, M/M, light murder, probably not how that tag was intended to be used but here we are
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-08
Updated: 2019-10-08
Packaged: 2020-11-27 13:17:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20948960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zai42/pseuds/Zai42
Summary: Simon and Nathaniel go on a date.Prompt: Isolation





	Terminal Velocity

"You always did know how to treat a date."

  
The amusement park wasn't quite still or silent - rides rattled along, games flashed and played their loops of tinny music - but the people, their cries of delight, their laughter, they were vanished, shuffled half a world to the side.

  
Simon examined the prizes in the arcade, making critical noises at stuffed bears and slipping on as many plastic rings as would fit on his fingers. "See anything that grabs your fancy?" Simon asked. He gestured. "The bicycle, perhaps? Might be a bit small for you."

  
"I'm just happy to watch you enjoy yourself," Nathaniel said tonelessly. "And you haven't the tickets for it."

  
"It's a scam, dearest, nobody does," Simon said. He snatched up a fistful of penny candy and waltzed around the counter. "What _did_ you invite me here to talk about?" he asked, holding out a lollipop. Nathaniel blinked slowly at it, then took it, twirled it between his fingertips, and tucked it into a pocket of his coat. "I know it wasn't _just_ to indulge me," Simon added fondly.

  
Nathaniel nodded and allowed Simon to lead him by the hand towards the Ferris wheel. "Wright," he said. "The Institute." (Simon held open the cart door and gestured for Nathaniel to take a seat, settling in next to him. "Never liked these enclosed ones," he grumbled, and with a wave of his hand the roof of the cabin vanished into empty air.) "His new Archivist."

  
"Mmm, she's a feisty one, isn't she?" Simon said as the wheel began to turn. "Is it true, about her and the Lightless Flame's little whelp?"

  
"Who can say," Nathaniel said. He looked out at the gaudy lights of the amusement park, farther below them than they should have been, given the size of the Ferris wheel and how long they'd been on it. "It isn't a combination I relish," he said. Simon was silent; when Nathaniel looked over, he was staring at the roller coaster with a glassy kind of hunger. Nathaniel arched a glacial eyebrow. "You aren't listening," he said.

  
Simon looked at him dreamily. "You get too wrapped up in politics, dearest," he said. He inched closer. "Just enjoy the ride." His fingertips, ice-cold, brushed the shell of Nathaniel's ear. He tilted his face upwards, expectant.

  
Nathaniel eyed him, his face blank as a cliffside. He reached out, touched the pad of his thumb to the corner of Simon's mouth, swiped it along his lower lip in a long, slow pass. "Perhaps I am being short-sighted," he conceded. He lowered his hand, turned away.

  
The Ferris wheel jolted to a stop and Simon swung one long leg over Nathaniel's lap, making the cart sway dangerously as their weight resettled. "Are you going to vanish on me?" he asked, grinning. "I still haven't forgiven you for leaving me in that hot air balloon, you know."

  
"You always come back," Nathaniel replied, and it was impossible to tell how he felt about it, his voice utterly without inflection. Simon began plucking open his coat, his icy hands dipping beneath layers of clothing.

  
"We could do great things with that roller coaster, dearest," Simon murmured against the hollow of Nathaniel's throat. "Oh, I loved when they were all new and terrifying - did you ever ride the Flip Flap Railway? They tore it down, of course, it was a death trap, but some poor fools are stuck there still, unless they've jumped by now - "

  
Nathaniel brushed Simon's hands away, guided him by the wrists to wrap his arms around his neck instead, and reached down to dip a hand beneath his waistband. "Keep going," he said. He urged Simon forward to grind their hips together, wrapping one hand around both their cocks.

  
"That - swooping in your stomach," Simon said breathlessly; Nathaniel could feel him grinning. "Right when you start to - oh - descend..." He rocked forward, and the cart swung with the movement. "Your body is so sure you're going to _really_ fall," he gasped. Nathaniel twisted his wrist; Simon's fingernails scored scratches into his shoulder. "Sometimes they fail all on their own, just - give out, surrender to - to gravity - "

  
The cart tipped wildly, almost ninety degrees, and for half a second Nathaniel felt it, that tugging towards earth, a brief moment of small terror that Simon might not catch him. Simon cried out and came over his hand, cackling, and they plummeted from the sky. 

* * *

"Do you feel better now?" Simon asked as they ambled out of the park. Emergency vehicles screamed into view, racing towards the back of the park, where the Ferris wheel had stood moments before. "About our Archivist, I mean."

  
"Not entirely," Nathaniel said. The crowd surged around them, giving them a wide berth whether they noticed it or not. Somewhere a child was screaming.

  
"Ah, well," Simon said. He reached into his coat and pulled out a cheap stuffed cat with comically sad eyes. "It was a good date, anyway. Kitten?" When he looked up, Nathaniel was already gone. "Hm," he said to the cat. "Well, _I_ thought it was a good date."

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know that I'm 100% satisfied with their voices here but I love these evil old bastards. What do you mean Nathaniel hasn't appeared in canon.


End file.
